ESPE Abstracts

Background: Growth monitoring of apparently healthy children aims at early detection of severe underlying conditions. Strong empirical evidence shows that current practices of growth monitoring are suboptimal. Practice standardisation with validated tools requires answering two questions: Which conditions should be targeted? How should abnormal growth be defined?Objective and hypotheses: To obtain consensus on a short list of priority target conditions o...

Background: Vitamin D deficiency in children is a common cause of rickets, and a potential risk factor for extraskeletal adverse health outcomes. Its prevalence in Haiti has not been assessed.Objective and hypotheses: To examine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in dark-skinned young children in Haiti.Method: Cross-sectional study of healthy Haitian children 9 months to 6 years across thr...

Background: Vaginal agenesis (VA) in MRKH syndrome can be managed either by surgery or autodilatations.Objective and hypotheses: To compare different managements of MRKH-VA in terms of quality of life, sexual function, anatomical results and complications.Method: National Multicentric observationnal study including 130 patients older than 18, at least one year after completing VA management, from October 2012 to April 2015. 84 had ...

Background: Few studies have addressed the question of psychological impact and long term outcomes in MRKH patients.Objective and hypotheses: Our national multi-centric study aimed to assess MRKH patients’ experience concerning diagnostic announcement, treatment perception, impact on psychic functioning, socio-professional integration, affective and sexual life and quality of life.Method: First 40 MRKH patients aged 19–34...

Background: In adult women, serum levels of AMH reflect both the number of small growing follicles and remaining primordial follicles. AMH levels range 15 fold between healthy girls. Interpretation of AMH is contentious due to minor intra-individual changes around time of pubertal onset despite continuous loss of primordial follicles.Objective and Hypotheses: To describe ovarian morphology (volume, follicles) in healthy girls and adolescents in relation ...

Background: Non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (NCCAH) may present during childhood, adolescence or even adulthood with various degrees of hyperandrogenism. Diagnosis is established through tetracosactide (Synacthen®) test and genotyping. Cortisol insufficiency has rarely been described in NCCAH.Objective and hypotheses: To describe cortisol response to tetracosactide test in NCCAH patients.Method: Retrosp...

Background: Exposure to non-persistent pesticides may have an effect on prenatal growth and later risk of adiposity. Prenatal pesticide exposure has been found to be associated with lower birth weight and higher body fat percentage calculated from skinfolds at age 6–11 years. Body composition measured by using DXA in children prenatally exposed to pesticides has not previously been reported.Objective and hypotheses: To study the effects of prenatal ...

Background: Obesity in childhood is defined by age- and sex-specific BMI cut-off values. However, BMI does not disclose the distribution of fat mass. Increased abdominal adipose tissue is associated with a higher risk of cardio-metabolic disease in adulthood. Thus, precise measurements of abdominal adipose tissue in children may enable early prevention of disease.Objective and hypotheses: To validate measurements of abdominal adipose tissue by anthropome...

Objective: Recent experimental data suggest that circulating serotonin interacts with bone metabolism, although this is less clear in humans. This study investigated whether serum serotonin interferes with bone metabolism in young women with anorexia nervosa (AN), a clinical model of energy deprivation.Methods: Serum serotonin, markers of bone turnover (osteocalcin (OC), procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (PINP), type 1-C telopeptide breakdown prod...

Background: Despite the fact that pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS) is a frequent finding in children with combined GH deficiency (CGHD), clinical data are still limited and the growth response to GH treatment has not been evaluated in comparison with CGDH with a normal stalk.Objective and hypotheses: To report the clinical and hormonal findings and evaluate the short term growth response to GH in Belgian children with congenital non-syndromat...